Contact: Mina Georgiou
(973) 808-8287
MGeorgiou@innovativetravelmarketing.com

Bonnie Reuben
(212) 582-4551
reubencomm@aol.com

For Immediate Release

New York, NY - The combination of an impending economic downturn and a swell of available inventory increases the odds that many hotel rooms in the city will go empty. While some hotel executives are packaging rooms and offering discounted rates, others are using barter as a financial strategy to increase business and impact occupancy using their available rooms. "Utilizing rooms in exchange for media placements is a creative way to increase business and profit," said Jody Merl, president of Innovative Travel Marketing (ITM).

The value of revenue lost due to unoccupied hotel rooms can never be recovered, so advertising becomes a necessary investment to keep rooms filled. Benefits of barter are as follows:

• The company receives full value for their rooms, increased cash flow and exposure in new markets
• Hotel companies can use barter to maximize their advertising dollars
• The media campaign provides targeted business for the property; the hotel also gains access to new clientele that use rooms on trade; the end user brings incremental revenue and potential future cash business
• There is no cost of sale for bartered rooms -- they are not subject to selling expenses, commissions or credit card fees

According to Merl, "All around, barter offers out-of-the-box opportunities to offset the slowdown in business. Barter helps hotels optimize the value of their excess inventory so empty rooms are traded for marketing dollars. Discounting in a slow economy is not the only answer."

Typically, ITM works with the broad spectrum of hotels and resorts ranging from desperate properties with no ad budgets to midsize hotels with a more generous cash/barter blend to national hotel chains with million dollar budgets that want to launch an image campaign or finance a pre-opening blitz.

"New hotels are opening in all major markets", concludes Ms. Merl. "In New York alone, nearly 3,000 rooms have come available for 2001 and 1,000 more are scheduled to open within the year. This increase in supply causes excess inventory that will instigate a decrease in demand; barter advertising is key to staying competitive in this industry cycle."

Innovative Travel Marketing (ITM) is a niche, barter consulting firm for the travel industry specializing in media placement and sales promotional services. Associates have over 40 years of hotel sales and marketing experience. ITMıs customized services provide clients, which include some of the finest hotels, resorts and airlines worldwide, with a competitive advantage by optimizing occupancy and maximizing profit through barter. Established in 1992 by Jody B. Merl, ITM has earned the reputation as the most highly regarded barter advertising firm for the travel industry. ITM is headquartered in New York City.